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Minutes for the General Assembly, Warsaw 2009

Overview of activities. The chairman gives an overview of different activities:

ESRA was legally registered as an official association in Catalonia, Spain.

Two miniconferences took place.

The majority of the time and energy was dedicated to organize the ESRA conference 2009 in Warsaw.

Daniel Oberski developed a computer programme which facilitates the organization of ESRA conferences.

Changes in the constitution
In order to register the ESRA statute in Catalonia, Spain, where the current president and the conference organisation committee are located, it was necessary to change the statute of ESRA. All changes suggested by the board were approved by the General Assembly besides one: in case the president and the vice-president cannot chair the General Assembly it shall be the longest serving member and not the oldest as the new constitution states. This change will be incorporated.

Survey Research Methods (SRM).
Rainer Schnell presents the report about SRM. The publication of a Special Issue is considered and Rainer Schnell will send an email to all session coordinators of the Warsaw conference to ask for suggestions.

Financial report over 2008-2010.
Daniel Oberski gave an overview of the revenues and expenses of the ESRA for the years 2008 to 2010, and concludes that ESRA can survive until the next conference in 2011.

Changes in the committee.
In agreement with the constitution the ESRA committee shall rotate and the following new committee was accepted:

President

Willem Saris

Vice President

Jaak Billiet

Chair of the Scientific Committee

Patrick Sturgis

General Secretary

Wiebke Weber

Treasurer

Daniel Oberski

Representative of SRM

Rainer Schnell

Internet officer

Daniel Oberski

Members of the committee

Vasja Vehovar, Han Oud, Joan Manuel Batista-Foguet, and Peter Lynn

Preparation of the next ESRA conference in 2011.
The next ESRA conference in 2011 will be organized by Patrick Sturgis and as discussed with Austrian ESRA members the venue could be Vienna. However, Patrick Sturgis will consider further possibilities before taking a final decision. His main criteria are the price of the venue, the interest and support of the local committee, and also a location which is cultural, historical and/or architectural interesting for the participants.

ESRA courses.
Rainer Schnell and Jaak Billiet will prepare an inventory of survey methodology courses in Europe which shall be published on the ESRA website. In this way ESRA will encourage the exchange of survey methodology students.

Communication with substantive researchers
Hanspeter Kriesi suggests inviting substantive research groups which use surveys such as those of electoral studies, communication, responsibles for ESS modules, and others to the next conference. The Board and General Assembly approves this and agrees on using informal contacts rather than sending out official invitations.